The Ballad of Ben
by Leroy118
Summary: This is a Dragon Rider Fan Fiction that happens before the book starts. The book takes place in London, but I'm American, so please forgive me if it doesn't capture Britain that accurately.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

As the sun began to rise over London, the city awakened from it's sleep. Children marched to school, as Adults sipping coffee hurried to important meetings.

Ben frowned as he watched a couple walk with a small girl in a school uniform. Her bright, neon pink knapsack bobbed back and forth with every step she took.

He leaned up against a telephone pole, keeping a styrofoam cup at the ready. As they walked close to him, he eagerly showed it to the couple. They paid him no mind and continued trekking.

Ben sighed. He dumped the few coins that he had begged from passersby into his hand and put them in his pocket. He dropped the styrofoam cup and made his way through an alley.

Several homeless adults watched him, whispering as he stumbled through the dim morning light. Feeling uneasy, he walked more quickly. He was too busy watching behind him that he ran right into a tall figure with an "oof!"

Ben fell backwards, and then propped himself up with his elbows, and looked up at the man. He was obviously homeless, his long, leather jacket was worn and discolored. His hair was a tangled, greasy mess under a baseball cap.

"Haven't seen you around here, boy," He rasped in a strong, scottish accent. "How much have you gotten so far?"

Ben knew he must have seen him begging. He said nothing, he was too nervous. He inched backwards, and tried to pull himself up using the handle of a dumpster. The man pushed him back on the ground, and drew a large, rusty knife.

"Give it. Give it all to me." A quiver ran through Ben's spine as he reached into his pocket as the dark figure held the tip of the knife to his throat. He was just about to pull his hand out with the small bit of change he had gathered, when suddenly...

There was a loud "WHUMP!" and the man was thrown to the side, the knife clanged against the concrete and slid up against a wall.

Where the man was standing only a few seconds before, there was now an older boy, wielding a baseball bat with two hands. He was wearing a red, hooded sweatshirt, and the blond hair on his head seemed to stand on edge. His chiseled features were damp with sweat and morning dew.

"Reggie!" Ben cried. "I-"

"Thank me later," Reggie responded. "Can you walk?" Reggie said as he pulled Ben to his feet. "I'm fine. Lets-" A loud groan emerged from the man Reggie had beaten, as he tried to get up. Reggie kicked the man in the ribs, and he fell flat against the pavement.

"Don't you let me catch you messing with my boys, you hear?" Reggie growled. "Remember us." Reggie and Ben triumphantly left the alleyway.

"Wait until the other guys hear about this!" Reggie bragged. "No one messes with us," Reggie said in an "I'm on top of the world" voice.

"Yeah, you should have seen his face! He was about to get paid and then... Bam! Right where it hurts!" Ben elbowed Reggie in the ribs. "Speaking of getting paid," Reggie grunted. "How much did you get?" Ben shrugged and held out several coins to Reggie.

"You mean I just beat someone's arse' for less than a pound?" Reggie barked. "Sorry," Ben broke eye contact. "I didn't ask for you to help anyway."

"We're family, remember?" Reggie answered. "We're all family. Now come on, we're going to miss breakfast."

The dilapidated warehouse somehow felt like a mansion to Ben. They had made rooms in it out of crates and other random items, one for each of the Family, as they called themselves. The Family was a group of 8 homeless boys. They were led by Eddy, the oldest at 16, but everyone calls him Uncle Eddy. Most of the boys had come from orphanages, but weren't happy there. A few picnic tables, that they had stolen from a park down the street late at night, had several bowls of oatmeal and fruit, which were most likely stolen.

Eddy always gets to eat first, out of respect. Phil and X-Ray cook the meals, so they go next. Then after that, its first come, first serve. Reggie and Ben were just in time to be last for breakfast, all that was left over was a bowl's worth of oatmeal, so Reggie and Ben split it.

It was bland and tasteless, but it was edible. It was all he'd eat until the evening, when they all hung around the fire pit and Eddy would tell stories, and they would all listen as if rooted to every word he said. But Reggie was the center of attention this morning as he explained the scuffle with the man.

"And so I saw Ben lying on the ground, so I just did what any of you would do, and I whacked him right out of the way, I did!" Reggie puffed his chest out proudly. "It's true," Ben playfully punched Reggie.

Everyone clamored at once to Reggie and Ben, filling the warehouse with echoes of indistinct questions.

"Simmer down," Eddy put his feet up against the table, and satisfyingly put his hand on his stomach and burped. "Reggie put his life on the line to keep Ben out of harm," Eddy ruffled Reggie's hair. Tonight, we can celebrate that. I want everyone back at eight. We're low on money for food, you all know that." A few boys still followed Ben and Reggie as they filed out from breakfast. Reggie vividly described the knife and the way he kicked the man afterwards.

-------

All around the city, the boys begged for food and money. Some received tributes from sympathetic citizens. Some were shooed away and scolded at. Some stole clothing off of clotheslines and fruit from display cases in grocery stores.

It was 7:30, the sun was beginning to set. Ben and Reggie had been inseparable since the incident earlier that day. They made their way back to the warehouse and kept warm next to the fire which Eddy had already started. The pots of soup and vegetables bubbled over the fire in a camping pot. Dinner was set, and it was only a matter of time before it disappeared. Eventually, the folding chairs and benches were full, except for one seat. It was 8:30. Everyone always waited for the last person before they did anything.

"Where's Carl?" Someone whispered. "I don't know, I haven't seen him all day. He was here this morning, right? Maybe he just got lost."

Eddy came out of his room and sat down at the empty chair, and slapped a newspaper on his lap, looking troubled. "I think I-" He stammered. "I think I know what happened to Carl." He thumbed through the newspaper until he found the article he was looking for. He cleared his throat and read aloud.

"_Law makers in London have just passed the "No Child Alone" act which focuses on the bringing in of homeless children to shelters and orphanages. Police are on the lookout for begging children and children who are out in public during school hours. Studies in other cities around the globe have shown that this dramatically decreases the amount of homeless children on the street. The law has gone into effect yesterday, and Police say they've collected 14 Children as of today."_

Everyone was speechless. The youngest boy, Charlie, cried. "I don't want to go back," Charlie bawled as he hugged his twin brother, Derrek. "We won't go back. Right, Uncle Eddy?"

Eddy was silent. At last, he managed to choke out a sentence. "No," his face turned serious. "I promised I'd take care of each of you. The world may have turned it's back on us, but we're all in this together. We're a family." The boys longingly looked at Eddy.

"Does this mean we can't go out and beg anymore?" Ben sighed.

"Yes, I'm afraid it does," Eddy replied. "How are we supposed to get food now?" X-Ray called out. "We can't grow it ourselves, and we can't buy it."

"That's true, X-Ray," Eddy Mopped his brow. "I need to go think about some things, I'll see you all in the morning. Ben and Reggie, gather up whatever money we have, then go and buy enough food for breakfast tomorrow."

"We're on it," Ben fretted. One by one the boys gave them whatever they had. It was barely enough to buy food for one meal, but they did it all the same.

It was some time after 10 o'clock when Reggie and Ben sauntered through the dark streets. A 24-hour convenience store five blocks from the warehouse was their destination.

"Too bad we didn't get to celebrate my awesomeness," Reggie jeered. "Awesomeness?" Ben raised an eye brow. "Is that even a word?" Reggie shrugged. "Whatever. Let's just get this food so I can go to bed." The neon sign of the Convenience store glowed off in the distance. They were but 2 blocks away now. Suddenly, Ben stopped. A police car was parked at the side of the road under a streetlight. Ben was able to see inside of the police car under the eery, orange glow. To Ben's horror, the policeman returned his glance, and opened the driver's side door.

"Ben, why'd you stop?" Reggie snorted. Ben didn't reply, he grabbed Reggie by the collar and broke into a run. "You there! You kids! Stop right now!" The police officer called after them. "Run!" Reggie barked.

Ben made heavy foot falls against the concrete, scraping his arm as he turned a corner against a brick wall. Reggie was right behind him, and the Police Officer was bellowing into his radio as he chased after them.

The pair hopped fences, and kicked trash cans over to slow down their pursuer. "Ben! The docks! Run to the docks!" Reggie shouted. People had opened their windows to see what all the commotion was about. They raced out of the alleyway, which faced the river. There were many motor boats, sail boats, and even small row boats tied up to the dock. The dock had a path that went up to the pier, where a carnival that was filled with life during the day sat dead and quiet. A lone, red painted row boat was tied up at the front of the barnacle encrusted pier. "Reggie, the rowboat!" Ben cried. "Gotcha!" Reggie bolted ahead of Ben and began sawing at the rope with his pen knife. Passersby anxiously watched the two runaways as the Police Officer was nearing the dock. Reggie frantically sawed at the rope. It was very thick and strong, and there was no time to untie it from the wooden post.

"Stop right there!" The constable held his police baton at the ready. Ben spun around. The menacingly large man barred their way off of the pier. "Run!" Reggie screeched, and took off in the opposite direction down to the end of the pier. Ben hesitated for a moment, and then broke into a run. The officer kept pace with them, until they were up on the pier. They were heading to a dead end, there was nowhere to run. Ben had difficulty following Reggie, as he was weaving between closed shops and kiosks.

Reggie tried to hop over a bench, but his foot got caught under the arm, and yanked him him backwards. He howled with pain, clutching his ankle.

"Reggie! Get up! Get up!" Ben pleaded. "He's right behind us! Do you want to go back to the orphanage?" Reggie wiped the tears out of his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but instead reached into his pocket and held something out to Ben. It was his pen knife, Reggie's most prized possession.

"Take this," He grunted. "Get back to that boat and paddle your way back to the Family. If I can ever get out, I'll try and find you." Ben stared at him, incredulously.

Ben heard approaching footsteps. "I'll never forget you, Reggie." Ben snatched the pen knife, and jumped to his feet. He took one last look at Reggie, and then climbed on top of the guardrail on the side of the pier. He peered into the dark, lapping water, held his breath, and made a 5 meter jump into pure darkness.

He was surprised when he hit the bottom of the canal. It wasn't deep, not at all.

He pushed his way to the surface, and took in a big gulp of air. He frog-kicked his way back to the docks. Then, he heard the siren of an ambulance. Before long, the flashing red lights had stopped at the end of the dock, just as he had pulled himself onto the deck of a boat. Water rained from his clothes, and it was hard to move in them. He stripped himself of his sweatshirt and hung it around his neck. Cautiously, he climbed out of the boat and onto the dock. The ambulance was clearly waiting for something.

"Reggie," Ben thought. "They're getting Reggie." His shoes oozed water with every step, making it difficult to walk quiet. At last he reached the small, wooden dinghy. He was a little close for comfort to the ambulance, when a police car pulled up next to it. Ben stopped, luckily, there weren't any lights by the red row boat, so he quietly stepped into it. Two police officers were talking to the driver of the ambulance. Ben couldn't make out what they were saying, but he had no time to wait around. He picked up the rope and started where Reggie had left off. After a good minute of sawing at the rope, he was able to pull it apart, and the current of the river slowly drifted him away from the dock. He grabbed an oar, and paddled himself away in the moonlight.

"They Just took him?" X-Ray gasped. "Why didn't you do anything?"

Ben looked at his shoes. "What could I do? I would end up in the same place as Reggie if I'd have stayed. Plus, I was unarmed." He shook his head. "They're just going to get us one by one! Then, what?" Charlie grasped Ben's arm. "Ben!" Eddy beckoned. "Coming," He replied. Ben shook charlie off, and sat with Eddy at one of the picnic tables. "Ben... We've lost two people today," He complained. "And to make things worse, we're out of money," He glanced at the boys still sitting by the fire pit in the middle of the warehouse. "We can't beg, we can't get jobs, we can't go out during school hours, " Ben added. "How can we make money for food now? We don't even have anything for breakfast tomorrow. All the money was on Reggie, and they took him."

"That's true," Eddy remarked. "But there is one way we can still make money. I was hoping it would never come to this, but this was always my back up plan." Eddy reached into a large duffel bag next to the table, and withdrew a plastic bag filled with a fine, white powder. It was Cocaine. Ben's eyes widened.

"No! It hasn't come to that," He uttered. "We're not drug dealers. When you brought me into the Family you said we only did what we had to do to survive."

Eddy firmly held Ben's shoulder. "You're right, Ben, I did say that. And this is what we have to do to survive. I know people who sell this for cheap, I went ahead and bought a kilo of this two years ago. It's an emergency fund."

Ben looked at Eddy with disbelief and disgust. "I'm leaving if we get into that!" Ben shouted. So loudly did he shout, the other boys looked looked over their shoulders and watched.

"Ben, if we sell all this, we'd have enough to eat for a year. We don't have a choice," Eddy reasoned. "Be my guest, you can leave, and go find somewhere else to live. Maybe an orphanage, a shelter, an abandoned building. But what will you do for food? For friends? Company?" He zipped the bag up.

"You and I are the oldest in the family now. And since we're the oldest, we have to take care of the younger ones." Ben was silent. He thought for a moment. And then reluctantly agreed to help Eddy.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

It had been a month later. Rarely did the boys leave the warehouse. It was only after 3, when they knew the schools had gotten out, did they wander the city as they pleased.

Ben and Eddy had sold over half of their stock, and they already had a large sum of money. There was still a generous amount left, meaning that the could store that away as their next emergency fund. They already had well over enough to feed themselves for 6 months.

Ben still felt uneasy about their whole operation, but it was the safest way to earn money for food. The Family still existed, so they took it as a win. However, Uncle Eddy became restless soon after they stored away the rest of the stash. He often talked about how they could buy clothing, and other necessities besides food, if they continued selling it and distributing more varieties of illegal narcotics.

One day, a man entered the warehouse. He demanded to see Eddy. Eddy took the man to the back of the warehouse, away from the other boys.

The man handed two bags to Eddy, counting several bills and hastily stuffing them into his pocket. He quickly exited the warehouse.

"What was that all about?" Ben questioned Eddy. Eddy gave Ben a serious look, and beckoned him to follow him with his finger.

They sat in Eddy's room, on two folding chairs which had obviously been thrown out by someone. Eddy threw a duffel bag in front of ben. "Open it," Eddy commanded. Feeling intimidated, Ben did what he was asked. He unzipped the top, and plunged his hand into the duffel bag. When he felt what was inside, he alarmingly retreated his hand. "Eddy! Is drug dealing not enough?" Eddy reached inside and pulled a worn, 9mm Glock handgun out of the bag and put it in Ben's lap. Ben was shifting uneasily and wanted to run that very minute, but Eddy obviously had a plan. "We're buying and selling more," Eddy said monotonously, as if he'd rehearsed it. "In case any of the deals went wrong, we can now defend ourselves." Ben shrank back in horror. A cold surge flooded his chest. Eddy put the gun in Ben's hand. "Push the button on the side to empty the magazine, and then pull it back like this to reload." Eddy slid the magazine in and out, and then cocked the top.

"This button here is the safety. It has to be in safety to be reloaded, and it won't shoot if it's in safety." Ben timidly clicked the safety on and off. "Line up the notches on the top of it, and then shoot.

Eddy fished a large revolver out of the other duffel bag. He aimed it at a concrete wall, and fired. A deafening crack bounced around the warehouse, and a shell ejected from the top and rolled to Ben's feet. Ben still felt in shock. Never in his life had he even seen a fire arm before. London had strict gun laws. Only police and military officials carried them.

"Now you," Eddy coaxed. Slowly, Ben raised the weapon, and aimed at the same wall as Eddy. He pulled the trigger fearfully. The recoil of the weapon surprised him, and a shell ejected and bounced away. The bullet bore itself inside of the concrete wall, and the boom of the weapon made Ben's ears ring. "There's four clips of ammo in the duffle bag," Eddy stated. "Don't get trigger happy, or the police will surely come here." Ben nodded. He felt much more secure with a fire arm. He was still feeling nervous about this entire thing, but if Eddy was handling the entire thing, why should he care? He was only his wingman. They were just trying to feed hungry, abandoned children like themselves. What were they doing wrong? After all, It was the world that had wronged them.

As soon as Ben left Eddy's room, Eddy reached into the duffel bag and opened a plastic bag filled with a floury powder. He deeply inhaled the contents...

Weeks later, Eddy had arranged the delivery of 1 kilo of Marijuana. Marijuana was in season, meaning it would be cheap to buy and easy to sell in a few weeks. Ben had the other boys hide in their rooms of the warehouse. A thin briefcase sat on top of the picnic table, filled with cash. Ben clutched his pistol under the table, hoping nothing would go wrong. Eddy and Ben anxiously watched the door of the warehouse. Finally, it swung open. Two men wearing hooded sweatshirts slowly approached the table, and sat down across from Eddy and Ben. No one said anything. They pushed a backpack towards them. Eddy checked the bag, and produced a bag of sulfur colored flakes. He sniffed it, and then pulled his revolver on the men. "It's fake!" Ben stood up and uneasily held his weapon up to the man across from him. They showed no signs of fear. One of them was even smiling. "What's going on?" Ben stammered. Suddenly, two windows broke as canisters of tear gas were thrown into the warehouse.

The intoxicating aroma swirled all around, and made their eyes sting. "Tear gas!" Eddy coughed. "Run!" Police burst into warehouse.

Men tore after them. The duo burst through doors at the side of the warehouse, and the rest of the boys from the family scrambled out many other doors and windows. Police sirens filled the air. Eddy stopped, turned around, and fired his weapon, hitting a police officer. Then he grabbed Ben and threw him on the other side of an adjacent warehouse facing the river. "Eddy! He was unarmed!" Ben angrily beat Eddy. "Look what you've done! You just ruined everything!" Ben's lip quivered with anger. Eddy was quiet for a moment, and then aimed his weapon at Ben's forehead.

Ben was horrified. This boy, who took him in, fed him, clothed him, and kept him and many other boys safe, was now holding a gun to his head. Eddy had been a father to Ben. He couldn't help but shed a few tears. The footsteps of Police became louder and louder. "Dispatch, shots fired, Jefferson is shot in the arm," Was all ben could make out.

Eddy lowered the revolver from Ben. "Leave. I'll hold them off." Ben didn't hesitate. He bolted from the scene and thoughts raced through his head. Where could he run to? How can he get away? The police were everywhere. Then it hit him.

They were everywhere but the river. Ben changed direction and shuffled through an alley between warehouses. His red dinghy bobbed up and down in the murky water, tied to a wave breaker. He climbed into the boat, getting his shoes soaked as he did so, and pushed himself off using a paddle.

Eddy watched Ben run, and then turned around. he leaned up against a dumpster and opened the bell of the revolver. He fumbled two bullets from his pocket and replaced the two rounds he had used on the officer. Eddy reached into his jacket, and opened a very small, plastic bottle, filled with a fine, white powder. He took a long whiff of it, and it filled him with a calm, over powered feeling. He was able to hide his addiction from everyone but himself.

Eddy held his revolver with both hands, and began to feel very mellow. He didn't care what happened to him now. All that mattered was that Ben and the other boys could make it out. Armed police officers stopped as they saw him, and Eddy opened fire on them.

Bodies fell to the ground. Eddy fired until his revolver clicked, and then he went numb. A lone police officer was aiming a combat shotgun at him. The officer, wearing sunglasses, a baseball cap, and a bullet proof vest, pulled the trigger. The blast from the shotgun sent Eddy sprawling backwards. He felt extreme pain. Blood erupted from his lower torso, and he fell to the floor. He flopped about on the pavement, his revolver slid away from him. The officer pumped his shotgun, and it ejected a shell that rolled close to Eddy. The pool of blood oozing from his body became deeper and deeper. He felt dizzy. The world began to drift away from him. He could hear voices of the police officers, but they were low and faint. Eddy saw and heard everything in slow motion. Everything was fading into white. And then Eddy whited out.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ben had found an abandoned factory on the other side of town. A homeless man had told him about it, saying he once slept there before he found a better place. It was all Ben needed. There was a couch to sleep on, a roof over his head, and it was away from other people. Ben picked up a paper route. Lucky for him, the old man he worked for didn't require him to fill out an application. He would go everyday, deliver papers, and put up fliers on telephone poles. He never earned much, but it was enough just for him.

Ben had lost faith in humanity. He was alone, but he wasn't afraid. He was still good-natured, and kept away from illegal ways of making money. But he kept the Glock back at the factory. He never used it, and never carried it with him anywhere. He cut his hair short after the incident, so police wouldn't recognize him as easily.

The factory had a hatch door that opened out to the canal, allowing Ben easy transportation around the city with his row boat. He would use it to paddle up to get to his employer's apartment, where he would pick up the papers, put them in his boat, and distribute them. Sometimes he would keep a paper if he didn't sell them all, and not tell his employer. He would get out in his boat, then read in the afternoon sun in the middle of the least busy part of the canal. When large boats drove past him, their wake often made him capsize. He quickly learned to stay away from them.

A year later, Ben had worked himself into a routine. He was getting older, he realized. He often thought of turning himself in to an orphanage or shelter. But he remembered the family, and thought better of it. He was no longer afraid of the police, seeing as it had been more than a year since the day that he left the Family. If they didn't get him by now, then they weren't about to storm the factory and take him to jail.

He hadn't seen any of the other boys from the Family. They were probably picked up by the police and put into shelters. He knew that Eddy had perished outside the warehouse, gunned down by police. Once, he returned to the warehouse. The doors were welded shut. An intimidating "No Trespassing" sign hung on each side of the warehouse.

One morning, he was awakened by the sound of voices and activity all around in the room of the factory. He crouched behind some rotting crates, and dared not to poke his head out. The voices were clear now.

"What's the matter?" A female voice said. "Oh, I see, who's homesick now?" Ben listened closely, trying to determine who it was, and if they were hostile or not. "Here, get a noseful of these. They'll drive the stink of this place out of your nostrils. I expect our friend the rat would like it just fine here, but you and I had better get out as soon as we can."

Ben was puzzled as to what she meant, but he didn't have time to think about that. He decided he'd either need to show himself or leave. But then, the gun popped into Ben's head. Luckily, his backpack was in reach, he quietly unzipped the backpack, bracing himself upright with his feet. He could hear the female voice singing softly, bringing pressure off of him to be completely silent. He retrieved the pistol from the knapsack, when the grease on the wall of the crate made him slip, making a quiet, rustling sound.

"There's something in here!" He heard the female voice hiss. Ben leveled himself, scraping his shoes against the floor. "Come on out!" She demanded. "Come on out, whatever you are!" Ben didn't even breathe. He didn't dare move.

"Come on out! Or do I have to come and fetch you?"

"Well, they're coming to get me anyway," he thought. "I might as well stand up and get a look at them." Ben took the handgun off of safety, and crawled out from under the crates, raised his weapon, and stared incredulously at a cat-like creature, standing upright, about 1 foot shorter than him. It retreated in alarm, and then Ben's eyes stuck at the sight of a dragon. Ben did not feel afraid, but his knees shook in shock. He slightly lowered the weapon. "He doesn't smell of humans at all!" The cat-like creature growled. "He stinks of mice," She added. "That's why I didn't smell him. Yes, That'll be it." But Ben took no notice of her. He raised his hand not holding the pistol, and pointed at the dragon.

"It's a dragon!" He whispered. "A real, live dragon."


End file.
